Congressional voting records. Appropriation amounts. More acronyms than you can shake a scuffle hoe at.
Marjorie Roswell, of FarmBillPrimer.org
Starting to feel overwhelmed already by the massive amount of data surrounding the Farm Bill? Sometimes when we’re feeling swamped, we turn to FarmBillPrimer.org, a great resource for data, maps, and analysis.
This week we scored an interview with Marjorie Roswell, the creator of FarmBillPrimer.org. ... Read More

We get a lot of questions about exactly what went down with the Farm Bill last year. (Honestly, it was head-spinning confusion even for seasoned policy experts.) To help shed a little light, here’s a play-by-play recap:
How the process should work
For starters, what is the Farm Bill and how does it affect me?
The Farm Bill is an omnibus bill (that is, one that incorporates many different topics) passed every five-ish years by the US Congress... Read More

Senator Harry Reid. Image courtesy of www.reid.senate.gov
Late last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the Senate Democrats’ proposal to avoid the upcoming sequestration through spending cuts and revenue increases. Included in this “American Family Economic Protection Act” proposal were a number of changes to USDA spending, many addressing shortcomings of the terrible Farm Bill extension passed in early January.
The... Read More

At long last, the Farm Bill race of 2012 is over.
The past week has been a flurry of activity in Congress, as the looming fiscal cliff spurred Washington to action. Despite the public attention on the Farm Bill over the past year, the conclusion to the long drama came not in a fiery showdown but instead slipped – barely noticed – in to the end-of-year fiscal fight. The bill that passed the House on Tuesday night had tucked into it a nine-month... Read More

Well, the Farm Bill race of 2012 is over, although the new bill is only a nine-month extension tacked onto the far larger fiscal cliff bill.
The final vote last night in the house was 257-167, with support from a large majority of Democrats and 36% support from Republicans. In the end, the landslide of approval for the bill was an aversion to actually going over the fiscal cliff – since Tuesday was a national holiday, today was the deadline for... Read More

The great Farm Bill saga of 2012/2013 took a major turn for the worse last night as the Senate passed a new Farm Bill extension.
In a rapid about-face, the Senate passed a nine-month Farm Bill extension that continues prominently wasteful policies from the last bill and ignores a slew of conservation and beginning farmer programs.
At 1 AM last night, the Senate approved the Farm Bill extension as a part of the larger fiscal cliff bill by a vote of... Read More

Yes, the presidential election is over. But that doesn’t mean we’re done in DC for the fight for beginning farmers. Now that your vote was counted in the political races, it’s time to cast another vote, this one for a better Farm Bill that supports beginning farmers.
Sign on to the Young Farmers/National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition petition to let Congress know that you want a fair, sustainable Farm Bill today – one... Read More

It seems like lately it’s been all trick and no treat when it comes to Congress’ advocacy for farmers!
The Farm Bill expired nearly a month ago and Congress is now on recess until after the election. What can we do? NYFC has teamed up with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition to generate a massive amount of input from farmers and foodies across the country.
Please sign on to the petition below and give your reasons why... Read More

My name is Sophie Ackoff, I have been an apprentice at Glynwood Farm. Like so many other beginning farmers today, I don’t come from a farming family and I have no land or agricultural skills to inherit from my parents.
I believe that the government needs to support beginning farmers and shouldn’t short-change farmer training programs. Please act now to send that message to Congress.
I grew up in suburban Southern California, a region... Read More

Thousands of farmers and ranchers from around the country have benefited from trainings and educational events paid for by the USDA’s funding initiative, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
However, all these trainings are at risk unless Congress backs down on its attempt to use the program as a budgetary scapegoat: in the next couple weeks, they will most likely put together a temporary Farm Bill, and the BFRDP may be pulled... Read More